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"This seems like a lot of cereal for four people."
Sonya chuckled at the remark and looked over to where Kenshi was unpacking some of the groceries she had brought in.
Because in yet another instance of where she felt more like a mother of four than a General to four, she wanted to make sure the kids had a well-stock house ahead of their time off. She had checked the cabinets the day before while Cassie and the team were out, and had made a list of things that needed to be restocked and resupplied.
And now here she was, unpacking and restocking most of what had been on her list.
As well as some other things she had picked out on a whim.
Sonya always did the kids' grocery shopping by herself, but since Kenshi had been around she decided to drag him along with her this time.
They had plans for the late afternoon and it was just easier to keep him with her rather than try and track him down later.
He didn't like going to large stores though so she had opted to do a curbside pick up this time around.
"You would be surprised at how much cereal four adults can go through," Sonya replied, "- especially those that didn't grow up with it. It's like crack to them. I almost feel guilty for getting them addicted to it."
Kenshi laughed at her comparison as he set aside the aforementioned box of cereal.
One of many, anyways.
"You didn't keep cereal in your house?" he asked.
"Cassie grew up with personal chefs, so there was really no need to keep snacks around," she answered. "And the amount of sugar in one serving of any cereal was too much to stay in my house."
Sonya had always been a bit of a health nut, admittedly.
But she also just didn't like to keep a lot of processed food around in general.
"Honestly, I'm surprised none of them got sick from this stuff," Sonya continued. "I mean, Jacqui grew up on a farm, so everything was always fresh; and I know Vera was never a big fan of junk food. And Takeda and Kung Jin basically grew up outside of modern living, so all of this had to be unheard of to them as well. But you know, that tendency to splurge is usually what happens when you leave kids unsupervised around this kind of food- no matter how old they are."
And from her experience, the team did love the usual junk foods.
Cereal, Pop-Tarts, frozen pizzas- all of the classic staples.
It wasn't like Sonya could blame the kids for eating everything though.
She was the one buying it for them after all.
That wasn't to say that she didn't buy healthier options for them as well.
It was just that the healthy stuff clearly wasn't as popular.
"You do this every week?" Kenshi asked.
"Every two weeks or so," Sonya shrugged in answer, as she unpacked two more boxes of Pop-Tarts. "It really depends on how frequently we need the team to run expeditions for us. If the kids stay one or two days, then there's usually more than enough to keep the cabinets full. But if they stay here for longer than a weekend, then I have to restock."
"They're young," he remarked. "They need the calories to keep up with the work you give them."
"Oh believe me, I remember the days," she chuckled, as she tossed the now empty, plastic bag aside. "I used to keep my bunker stocked with all sorts of snacks so I could keep training and not pass out. Jax used to make fun of me because my gym bag was always full of empty wrappers."
Sonya grabbed two of the cereal boxes that Kenshi had unpacked and relocated them to the pantry on the other side of the kitchen.
And she slipped them into the previously empty spaces left behind from the week before.
"Do the kids know you do this?" Kenshi asked.
"No, I'm pretty sure they think I just get one of my lackeys to do it," Sonya answered. "I don't think it's even crossed their minds that I do this myself, and honestly, sometimes I question why I don't just get someone else to do it."
Despite saying that, Sonya knew why she didn't.
This was something easy for her to do that also allowed her to support the kids from afar.
That way it didn't seem like she was using her position to intrude.
Even though the house technically counted under military housing, and Sonya had been the one to sign off on it due to the experimental nature of the team. It wasn't exactly a necessity, especially since, under normal circumstances, Cassie and Jacqui didn't meet the qualifications for off-base housing. But this wasn't exactly normal circumstances either.
The idea was that the house would be used as a halfway point for the team to regroup either before or after Special Forces expeditions.
That way Takeda and Kung Jin wouldn't be forced to make the long journey back to their respective clans in the middle of the night- or in a state of pure exhaustion.
And they wouldn't exhaust themselves getting to the base in the first place, which would potentially hinder them when it came time to fly out.
That being said, sometimes the four of them showed up exhausted and hungover anyways, so the house wasn't a perfect solution.
As long as she could keep up the charade that someone else came through and restocked, Sonya could also avoid the accusations of personal integration.
It was bad enough she was still getting accused of nepotism.
"Plus, if I don't do this, the kids will just hit up the 7-Eleven down the street," Sonya continued, as she returned to grab the next set of cereal boxes. "And I'd rather them get sick off sugar than off of gas station hot dogs and nachos."
Kenshi laughed.
"I think that's a genuine concern- and trade-off," he remarked.
"Don't you keep your place stocked for when Takeda stays over?" she asked, as she made a return trip back to the pantry.
"He usually does the delivery thing," Kenshi answered, as he turned and leaned back against the counter now. "That way he can just order whatever specific thing he wants for the night. I showed him how to do it and now he's better at it than I am - but in fairness, he has an advantage over me."
"Look at you, passing your own mastery to the next in line," Sonya teased.
"I don't know how else to do it," he chuckled. "I can only teach what I know."
"Maybe Takeda should teach you how to shop at the 7-Eleven."
"At my age, a gas station hot dog would probably kill me."
Between the two of them, they managed to get the rest of the groceries put up and got the kitchen back in order. For what it was worth, the kids never left much of a mess whenever they were here. Sonya knew that Jacqui stayed on top of it, but surprisingly enough, Takeda and Kung Jin weren't as messy as the two of them appeared either; which was something she chalked up to Shirai Ryu and Shaolin training and maintenance.
Really, of the four, it was probably Cassie who was the biggest mess maker.
"Alright, well that should keep them happy for another week or so," Sonya started.
She looked the kitchen over once more to make sure nothing seemed out of place.
Not that the kids ever noticed, as far as she was aware.
She turned to face Kenshi now. "Now remember, this stays between us."
"I don't know, I haven't been doing so well on keeping things 'between us'," he reminded.
Sonya snorted.
"Yeah, you would be right about that."
Kenshi laughed at her slighted remark, before he moved to her.
And he managed to slip an arm around her waist before she could avoid it.
"Look, I already apologized," he reminded once more. "And you have to admit, it wasn't the worst thing that I've done."
"You would also be right about that," Sonya agreed, as she felt him pull her in now.
She knew what he was leading to, and as much as she would've liked to follow, one of them needed to be aware of their surroundings.
Sonya moved a hand to cover his mouth just as Kenshi leaned in to kiss her. "The kids will be here in fifteen minutes - if they're still on schedule. And seeing as they're still upset about your little kissing act from before, we cannot be caught by ourselves in their house. We would never live it down and they would never let us forget it. And given how he acted before, you know Kung Jin would start a rumor that we probably fucked in one of their beds - and I'm not running the chance of either Cassie or Takeda burning this house down. There would be too much paperwork to deal with and I'm not answering any questions about their motive to start a fire."
"Oh come on, just one-" Kenshi started as he pulled his head away from her hand.
But she just followed him with it.
"We are getting in the car, and we are driving away from here," she reiterated. "You can kiss me at the end of the street, but we cannot do it here."
"Alright, alright- but I'm holding you to that."